My main line of research is the large scale distribution
and the physical properties of molecular clouds
and regions of massive star formation in the Milky
Way. I carry on large scale surveys of the millimeter
and sub millimeter line and continuum emission to
determine statistically the physical properties
of the gas and dust involved in the formation of
massive stars. The most interesting regions from
these large data bases are selected for individual
studies, at the highest resolution and sensitivity
available, to unveil the fairly unknown earliest
phases of massive star formation.

I am involved in the study of interstellar and circumstellar media. My areas of interests are:
1. The emission mechanisms at cm-wavelengths as diagnostics of the ISM, motivated by the discovery of a new component of radio continuum emission, presumably due to `spinning dust’. This work is mostly based on observations with the CBI radio-interformeter.
2. The nature of the cm-wave continuum in planetary nebulae (PNe).
3. The heterogeneity of the ISM on 100pc scales, using ¹²C/¹³C as tracer of the mixing of stellar yields. This work is based on optical high-resolution spectroscopy of molecular absorption lines.
4. High-resolution IR spectroscopy of planetary nebulae (PNe) aimed at constraining isotopic ratios throught the hyper-fine structure of ionic emission lines.

My research interests spans in a broad range of topics in theoretical astrophysics, using both analytical and numerical (SPH and AMR techniques) approaches. My current interests are: BH Mergers, BH Growth and Star/Galaxy Formation.

I enjoy doing engineering and science. I have worked
in telecommunications, technology integration, scientific
research and scientific-technological projects.
My expertise is mostly in laboratory work doing
physics and astronomical instrumentation, as well
as on-field commissioning of astronomical instruments.
I am now mostly involved in instrumentation project
engineering and management, as well as doing research
on millimeter/sub-millimeter receivers, high speed
radio-astronomy digital signal processing and getting
into galactic astronomy.

Cesar Fuentes - Profesor Asistente

My research interests is the Characterizing the
structure, statistics and statistical properties
of different populations in the Solar System, and
their link with planet formation. Optical imaging
analysis. Precision photometric time series of transient
events. Detection of faint companions to known objects.
Moving object detection through single detection
and digital tracking techniques..

Publicaciones aqui

Guido Garay - Profesor Titular

My research focus primarely on the study of a range of phenomena that are associated with the early stages of massive star formation: compact regions of ionized gas, massive and dense molecular cores, ionized jets, bipolar molecular outflows, and accretion disks. The goal is to determine the physical characteristics and dynamics of these objects in order to get a deeper understanding of how massive stars are formed and evolve. To accomplish this, I carry out single dish and interferometric observations at millimeter and centimeter wavelengths.

I am interested in the study of supernovae. I am the principal investigator of the Millennium Center for Supernova Studies (MCSS), which includes 5 professors, 4 postdocs, 4 PhD students and more than 10 undergraduates. Our activities involve a nearby supernova search program (CHASE) using the PROMPT robotic telescopes located at Cerro Tololo, the development of our own 50 cm robotic telescope, and photometric and spectroscopic followup of selected supernovae. The main goal of the MCSS is the study of the physics of supernovae and their use as distance indicators.

I am PI of a long term effort to discover and characterise benchmark extrasolar planets (aka. exoplanets) in the southern hemisphere. The main goal is to detect short period transiting planets around bright stars where follow-up ground and space-based analysis can lead to further breakthroughs into the physics of exoplanetary atmospheres. In addition, we also aim to study and detect the lowest mass planets, down into the Earth-mass regime. We employ the radial-velocity technique to detect such systems, utilising instruments such as the HARPS spectrograph. HARPS is shown to be stable down to around 80cm/s in the long term on real stars and we aim to make use of such precision to detect planets down into the low mass rocky regime.

Paulina Lira - Profesora Asociado

I am mostly interested in AGN, at low and high redshift. We are trying to understand the variability properties of a large sample of AGN using the QUEST optical camera and NIR data from the UltraVista and VIDEO surveys. Also, we are following a small sample of local well known Seyferts using the SMARTS telecopes to determine their optical and NIR light curves. I'm also interested in the obscuration properties of AGN and we are studying the dusty torus for a well defined sample of nearby Seyferts using IR imaging in the 1-10 um range and with ALMA in the near future. Finally, I'm also interested in the feedback mechanisms operating in AGN and powerfull starburst, for which we are starting a program trying to determine the presence of large scale winds in nearby ULIRGs and high-redshift galaxies and in binary Black Holes, which can be searched using spectropolarimetric observations.

I study the Intergalactic Medium and its interplay
with galaxy formation and evolution. Absorption
line spectra of distant QSO and GRB Afterglows allows
one to probe the IGM over all along the Hubble time
and over 10 orders of magnitude in HI column density,
from the Ly-alpha forest through the damped Ly-alpha
galaxies. Currently I am leading the ESO Large Programme
"Quasars and their absorption lines: a legacy survey
of the high redshift universe". Besides, I am interested
in gravitational lensing, in galaxy clusters, and
also in astrophysical tests of fundamental physical
constants. Finally, I am also quite interested in
finding new applications of probability and statistics
to astrophysical problems. My personal web-page
can be found here: http://www.das.uchile.cl/~slopez/.

Diego Mardones - Profesor Asociado

I am interested in studying all aspects of the star formation process itself. In particular in the closest low mass star forming regions in the southern hemisphere such as Chamaeleon, Lupus, Corona Australis and in mid-distance southern massive star forming regions in the first galactic quadrant.

My current interests are focused primarily on the evolution of dwarf galaxies (particularly dwarf spheroidal galaxies) and their interactions with our Milky Way. My work involves observational and computational (N-body simulations) studies of these systems aimed at understanding the role that Galactic tides play in shaping their properties. Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are the faintest and possibly the darkest (most dark-matter dominated) kind of galaxies in the universe. Besides being interesting systems in their own right, they provide us with significant constraints on current cosmological models and can potentially teach us something about the nature of dark matter.

I study both extrasolar planets and minor bodies of the Solar System using ground based telescopes. In the former area, I specialize in exoatmospheric characterization through the study of high-precision transmission and/or emission spectra during transit or occultation, respectively.
I am also interested in targeted radial velocity exoplanet surveys and in the photometric monitoring of transit events to detect temporal variation. I also participate in minor body surveys and binary characterization. Other areas of research include stellar populations in the solar neighbourhood.

My main stream research is the study of the properties and physical conditions of molecular clouds in the LMC and SMC, and its relation to massive star formation. The LMC and SMC offer a unique laboratory to perform this study. Their proximity and their different conditions of the ISM, constitute very good systems to study the formation of molecular clouds and the star formation process in low metallicty environments. The results of these investigations can give important clues to these processes in the early universe, where the abundance of heavier elements and the content of dust was much lower.